15 U.S.C. § 796 : US Code - Section 796: Reporting of energy information

Search 15 U.S.C. § 796 : US Code - Section 796: Reporting of energy information

(a) Authority of Federal Energy Administrator to request, acquire,
and collect energy information; rules and regulations
For the purpose of assuring that the Federal Energy
Administrator, the Congress, the States, and the public have access
to and are able to obtain reliable energy information, the Federal
Energy Administrator shall request, acquire, and collect such
energy information as he determines to be necessary to assist in
the formulation of energy policy or to carry out the purposes of
this chapter or the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973 [15
U.S.C. 751 et seq.].(!1) The Federal Energy Administrator shall
promptly promulgate rules pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(A) of this
section requiring reports of such information to be submitted to
the Federal Energy Administrator at least every ninety calendar
days.
(b) Powers of Federal Energy Administrator in obtaining energy
information; verification of accuracy; compliance orders
(1) In order to obtain energy information for the purpose of
carrying out the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the
Federal Energy Administrator is authorized -
(A) to require, by rule, any person who is engaged in the
production, processing, refining, transportation by pipeline, or
distribution (at other than the retail level) of energy resources
to submit reports;
(B) to sign and issue subpenas for the attendance and testimony
of witnesses and the production of books, records, papers, and
other documents;
(C) to require any person, by general or special order, to
submit answers in writing to interrogatories, requests for
reports or for other information; and such answers or other
submissions shall be made within such reasonable period, and
under oath or otherwise, as the Federal Energy Administrator may
determine; and
(D) to administer oaths.
(2) For the purpose of verifying the accuracy of any energy
information requested, acquired, or collected by the Federal Energy
Administrator, the Federal Energy Administrator, or any officer or
employer (!2) duly designated by him, upon presenting appropriate
credentials and a written notice from the Federal Energy
Administrator to the owner, operator, or agent in charge, may -
(A) enter, at reasonable times, any business premise or
facility; and
(B) inspect, at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner,
any such premise or facility, inventory and sample any stock of
energy resources therein, and examine and copy books, records,
papers, or other documents, relating to any such energy
information.
(3) Any United States district court within the jurisdiction of
which any inquiry is carried on may, upon petition by the Attorney
General at the request of the Federal Energy Administrator, in the
case of refusal to obey a subpena or order of the Federal Energy
Administrator issued under this section, issue an order requiring
compliance therewith; and any failure to obey the order of the
court may be punished by the court as a contempt thereof.
(c) Development of initial report; quarterly reports; accounting
practices
(1) The Federal Energy Administrator shall exercise the
authorities granted to him under subsection (b)(1)(A) of this
section to develop, within thirty days after June 22, 1974, as full
and accurate a measure as is reasonably practicable of -
(A) domestic reserves and production;
(B) imports; and
(C) inventories;
of crude oil, residual fuel oil, refined petroleum products,
natural gas, and coal.
(2) For each calendar quarter beginning with the first complete
calendar quarter following June 22, 1974, the Federal Energy
Administrator shall develop and publish a report containing the
following energy information:
(A) Imports of crude oil, residual fuel oil, refined petroleum
products (by product), natural gas, and coal, identifying (with
respect to each such oil, product, gas, or coal) country of
origin, arrival point, quantity received, and the geographic
distribution within the United States.
(B) Domestic reserves and production of crude oil, natural gas,
and coal.
(C) Refinery activities, showing for each refinery within the
United States (i) the amounts of crude oil run by such refinery,
(ii) amounts of crude oil allocated to such refinery pursuant to
regulations and orders of the Federal Energy Administrator, his
delegate pursuant to the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of
1973 [15 U.S.C. 751 et seq.],(!3) or any other person authorized
by law to issue regulations and orders with respect to the
allocation of crude oil, (iii) percentage of refinery capacity
utilized, and (iv) amounts of products refined from such crude
oil.
(D) Report of inventories, on a national, regional, and State-
by-State basis -
(i) of various refined petroleum products, related refiners,
refineries, suppliers to refiners, share of market, and
allocation fractions;
(ii) of various refined petroleum products, previous quarter
deliveries and anticipated three-month available supplies;
(iii) of anticipated monthly supply of refined petroleum
products, amount of set-aside for assignment by the State,
anticipated State requirements, excess or shortfall of supply,
and allocation fraction of base year; and
(iv) of LPG by State and owner: quantities stored, and
existing capacities, and previous priorities on types,
inventories of suppliers, and changes in supplier inventories.
(3) In order to carry out his responsibilities under subsection
(a) of this section, the Federal Energy Administrator shall
require, pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(A) of this section, that
persons engaged, in whole or in part, in the production of crude
oil or natural gas -
(A) keep energy information in accordance with the accounting
practices developed pursuant to section 503 of the Energy Policy
and Conservation Act [42 U.S.C. 6383], and
(B) submit reports with respect to energy information kept in
accordance with such practices.
The Administrator shall file quarterly reports with the President
and the Congress compiled from accounts kept in accordance with
such section 503 and submitted to the Administrator in accordance
with this paragraph. Such reports shall present energy information
in the categories specified in subsection (c) of such section 503
to the extent that such information may be compiled from such
accounts. Such energy information shall be collected and such
quarterly reports made for each calendar quarter which begins 6
months after the date on which the accounting practices developed
pursuant to such section 503 are made effective.
(d) Confidential information
Upon a showing satisfactory to the Federal Energy Administrator
by any person that any energy information obtained under this
section from such person would, if made public, divulge methods or
processes entitled to protection as trade secrets or other
proprietary information of such person, such information, or
portion thereof, shall be confidential in accordance with the
provisions of section 1905 of title 18; except that such
information, or part thereof, shall not be deemed confidential for
purposes of disclosure, upon request, to (1) any delegate of the
Federal Energy Administrator for the purpose of carrying out this
chapter and the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973 [15
U.S.C. 751 et seq.],(!4) (2) the Attorney General, the Secretary of
the Interior, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Power
Commission, or the Government Accountability Office, when necessary
to carry out those agencies' duties and responsibilities under this
and other statutes, and (3) the Congress, or any committee of
Congress upon request of the Chairman.
(e) Definitions
As used in this section:
(1) The term "energy information" includes (A) all information
in whatever form on (i) fuel reserves, exploration, extraction,
and energy resources (including petrochemical feedstocks)
wherever located; (ii) production, distribution, and consumption
of energy and fuels wherever carried on; and (B) matters relating
to energy and fuels, such as corporate structure and proprietary
relationships, costs, prices, capital investment, and assets, and
other matters directly related thereto, wherever they exist.
(2) The term "person" means any natural person, corporation,
partnership, association, consortium, or any entity organized for
a common business purpose, wherever situated, domiciled, or doing
business, who directly or through other persons subject to their
control does business in any part of the United States.
(3) The term "United States" when used in the geographical
sense means the States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
and the territories and possessions of the United States.
(f) Availability of energy information
Information obtained by the Administration under authority of
this chapter shall be available to the public in accordance with
the provisions of section 552 of title 5.
(g) Independent nature of authority to gather energy information
The authority contained in this section is in addition to,
independent of, not limited by, and not in limitation of, any other
authority of the Federal Energy Administrator.